I had a really good conversation yesterday at the Dev Lunch in Toronto about so-called Smart TVs. Here's a quick summary:
* TVs are about media consumption, not about interaction in the PC-sense of the word.
* When one wants extra content or information regarding the media they are consuming, they tend to use a secondary device (e.g. iPad, notebook)
* Most devs in the room merely wanted a device that would allow them to better manage and consume the media they wanted
* It's not clear what sort of apps (besides the aforementioned management tool) would be beneficial to write for a Smart TV platform. This is likely a function of not groking what a future with a Smart TV might be like.
* Over and over again, it was noted that the TV is a social device. You watch it with friends, be it in a bar, or a home. It's not clear that interacting with a Smart TV could be a social activity.
I'm interested to see what happens in this sphere, but I frankly can't shake the feeling that it's a dead end. Mostly dumb boxes that enable consumption, and management of media are probably the most likely thing to succeed, a la TiVo.
Yeah, I think the tech industry has consistently overestimated how much people want to interact with their television. TV is a fundamentally passive experience. Basic DVRs are probably pushing the limit of how much thought most people want to put into the viewing experience.
So I think you're going to see a few trends happening here which may change your mind.
One of the big gaps here is that most TV App platforms are independent of the video you are watching (they are not content aware). Take the Yahoo! platform which is (very well) designed to be used while watching TV, yet the apps don't know what is being watched. This adds some serious difficulty to app developers who want to enhance existing TV content which is kind of the current holy grail for TV apps (Actually most TV apps right now provide alternatives for delivering video content - and that is the killer app on TV right now. I'm going to try to focus this screed on TV apps whose main purpose is not to deliver video). This disconnect between app and video is currently being addressed. Early next year these apps will be able to be content aware and you will be able to have apps which are sync'd to the broadcast and this will add a lot of value to the chain. Unfortunately enhanced ads will likely be the first area where you'll see this functionality but someone needs to pay the bills.
The second trend is that a lot of TV interactivity will likely move from the TV to your tablet PC. We've already seen a first implementation of this with ABC's "My Generation" TV Show app (show's already canceled unfortunately). This app sync'd to broadcast using audio fingerprinting. I think that at some point these "second screen" apps will be the main type of TV Apps you see. Likely using the TV app platforms for some simple updates. Think a leaderboard or something while playing - or a twitter feed.
With respect to social. I think where the most interesting social aspects for TV aren't "Friend Feeds" via Twitter or Facebook. But using social networks for content discovery. I think we're going to be so inundated with video content that our primary method for content discovery won't be a guide (or search) but some sort of social recommendation system. Maybe a reddit for TV?
You're probably right with respect to using a secondary device as the medium with which interactivity and TV content are brought together.
Your last point is a pale shadow of a greater problem that PVRs are trying to solve. People are ipso facto inundated with too much content from all angles, period. I sometimes find myself wondering if we as a society are addicted to this constant influx of content and stimuli.
* TVs are about media consumption, not about interaction in the PC-sense of the word.
* When one wants extra content or information regarding the media they are consuming, they tend to use a secondary device (e.g. iPad, notebook)
* Most devs in the room merely wanted a device that would allow them to better manage and consume the media they wanted
* It's not clear what sort of apps (besides the aforementioned management tool) would be beneficial to write for a Smart TV platform. This is likely a function of not groking what a future with a Smart TV might be like.
* Over and over again, it was noted that the TV is a social device. You watch it with friends, be it in a bar, or a home. It's not clear that interacting with a Smart TV could be a social activity.
I'm interested to see what happens in this sphere, but I frankly can't shake the feeling that it's a dead end. Mostly dumb boxes that enable consumption, and management of media are probably the most likely thing to succeed, a la TiVo.